FALSELY jailed reporter Evan Gershkovich’s detention has been extended once AGAIN after being locked up for almost a year by Russia on bogus spy charges.
The 32-year-old innocent American will now cruelly remain in custody at a notorious Moscow jail until at least the end of June.
AFPEvan Gershkovich pictured at court today as his jail term was extended[/caption]
AFPThe WSJ reporter was arrested almost a year ago on baseless charges[/caption]
Gershkovich has already spent 363 long and painful days behind bars.
He was pictured looking defiant and smiling today at the closed-door hearing, standing in a glass court cage wearing a blue shirt.
At the end of January, Gershkovich had his detention extended until the end of March – which has now been dragged onto until June 30.
The Wall Street Journal reporter was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 29, 2023, in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on trumped up charges of espionage.
Putin‘s spy service alleged that the reporter, acting on the instructions of the American side, collected secret information about the Russian military-industrial complex.
However, Russian officials have not yet provided any evidence to publicly back up their claims.
Both Gershkovich and the Journal vehemently deny the allegations, while Washington declares him wrongfully detained.
The US citizen has repeatedly launched appeals to secure his freedom – all have so far been rejected.
He is the first Western reporter to be jailed on espionage charges in Russia since the Soviet era, and he faces a prison term of up to 20 years if convicted.
The US ambassador in Moscow today demanded that Russia free Gershkovich and said that the Kremlin was using him and other American citizens as pawns.
Ambassador Lynne Tracy said: the latest decision to extend Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention “feels particularly painful, as this week marks one year since Evan was arrested and wrongfully detained.”
“Evan’s case is not about evidence, due process, or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends, as the Kremlin is also doing in the case of Paul Whelan.”
Whelan, a former US marine, was arrested in Moscow in 2018. He was convicted of spying and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it will consider a swap for Gershkovich only after a verdict in his trial.
But the US has previously claimed that proposals have been rejected.
For now, Gershkovich will continue to languish inside the infamous Lefortovo prison, known for holding the Soviet-era’s most prominent political prisons.
President Putin, 71, said in February he would like to see Gershkovich released as part of a prisoner exchange.
In remarks to conservative American TV pundit Tucker Carlson, he said talks between Russia and the United States about a possible swap were ongoing.
However, the Russian tyrant made clear he wanted any deal to involve the release of a Russian jailed in Germany for killing a Chechen dissident.
Washington has accused Moscow of arresting US citizens on baseless charges to use them as bargaining chips to secure the release of Russians convicted abroad.
US-Russian journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was detained in 2023 for failing to register as a “foreign agent”, a case denounced by her employers as politically motivated.
At least two American citizens arrested in Russia in recent years, including basketball star Brittney Griner, have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the US.
Outside the entrance to Lefortovo prison where he is being held – known for housing political dissidents
Putin said he hopes to find a ‘solution’ despite his cronies rejecting the reporter’s repeated appeals for freedom
Russian authorities have failed to provide any evidence against the US journalist